Walter Devereux, 7th Baron Ferrers of Chartley

Walter Devereux, 8th Baron Ferrers of Chartley (c. 1432 – 22 August 1485) was an English nobleman and a loyal supporter of the House of York during the Wars of the Roses. He was a member of the inner circle of King Edward IV, and died fighting for Edward's younger brother, King Richard III, at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485.

Origins He was born about 1432 in Weobley, Herefordshire, the son of Sir Walter Devereux (1411–1459), Lord Chancellor of Ireland (from 1449 to 1450), and Elizabeth Merbury, the daughter and heiress of Sir John Merbury, Chief Justice of South Wales by his first wife, Alice Pembridge.

Marriage and children Walter Devereux married twice: Firstly before 25 October 1446, in a childhood marriage he wed Anne Ferrers (1438—9 January 1469), the daughter and heiress of William de Ferrers, 7th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, and thereby became jure uxoris Baron Ferrers of Chartley (in right of his wife) on 26 July 1461. By his wife, who predeceased him by seventeen years, he had at least six children including: Sir Robert Devereux of Ferrers (c1455—?), who was appointed a Justice of the Peace for Shropshire on 24 February 1473, and again on 8 Nov 1473. John Devereux, 9th Baron Ferrers of Chartley (1463 - 3 May 1501)

He fought with the new king, now Edward IV, in the North in November 1462, and over the subsequent decade was named constable or keeper of several castles, including those at Aberystwith, Brecknock, Hay and Huntingdon. He became sheriff of the county of Carnarvon was named Master-Forester of Snowdon Hills in 1470. In 1472, he was nominated a Knight of the Garter, and the next year was appointed as tutor and councillor of Edward, Prince of Wales. He continued to benefit from royal largesse, being granted Wigston, Leicestershire, in 1476, and Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, in 1484.

Death

Walter Devereux supported Richard III of England during his reign, and fought by his side at the Battle of Bosworth (22 August 1485). There, Lord Ferrers commanded in the vanguard under John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, alongside Sir Robert Brackenbury and Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey. Devereux was slain during the initial fight with the opposing van under John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford, fighting next to the young John, Lord Zouche. An in-law, Sir John Ferrers, was also killed at Bosworth. He was attainted after his death on 7 November 1485.